- Phones unveiled at last

Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ at events in London and New York as it outlines its new flagship smartphone position.

The new Galaxy S8 comes in two sizes, the regular model offering a 5.8-inch display and the S8+ offering a 6.2-inch display. Unlike the S7 devices, there's now no flat model: but have the dual curved edges to the display, something that's become a Samsung hallmark.

You might baulk at the sizes, but these aren't huge phones. Like the LG G6, Samsung has opted to change the aspect of the display to make them taller, so while that 6.2-inch display sounds huge, the phone is only about as wide as a 5.5-inch device and not much taller.

Adapting to this new 18.5:9 aspect ratio sees some ambitious and significant changes to the Galaxy S. There's no physical home button, moving to a pressure sensitive display arrangement for the home button, with customisable navigation controls on the screen.

The fingerprint scanner moves to the rear alongside the 12-megapixel camera. As before the Samsung Galaxy S8 offers an IP67 waterproof rating, as well as supporting wireless charging, in addition to fast charging through the USB Type-C on the bottom.

There's even a 3.5mm headphone socket to take advantage of the bundled AKG headphones.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 also debuts Bixby, Samsung's new smart AI service. With a dedicated button on the side of the phone, users in the US and Korea will be able to ask Bixby to perform just about any task, from changing device settings, to placing calls, to finding restaurants.

Language support for Bixby is US English and Korean at launch, with support for British English and other European languages appearing at some point in the future.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ promise to push the camera experience further using image combining to draw details from three photos and merge them for a better result. There's a 12-megapixel camera on the rear and an 8-megapixel camera on the front.

This isn't just a change in the design of the Samsung Galaxy S phone, it's a complete reworking of device interaction, an ambitious set of changes from Samsung to make this handset unique in a number of ways.

Pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S8 open immediately and run until 19 April. Deliveries start from 20 April for pre-orders, with general availability from 28 April.